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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to consider converting the Noida authority (NOIDA) into a metropolitan corporation to make it more citizen-centric. Noida is currently the only major city in India to not have an elected local government.
The Court also asked for a probe into the Authority, based on an apex-court constituted SIT which flagged its various flaws and shortcomings. It was hearing the bail pleas of two NOIDA Authority officials accused of allowing excess compensation payouts.
The NCR city is currently governed by the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA), which was constituted in 1976 under the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development Act, 1976, as an industrial township.
It was created during the Emergency when Sanjay Gandhi, son of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, wanted to move industries out of Delhi.
The Authority comes under the purview of the UP Infrastructure & Industrial Development Department. Its day-to-day activities are run by an appointed IAS officer in his role as its Chief Executive Officer.
It covers 81 revenue villages and a total of about 20,316 hectares of land.
How is it different from other cities?
Noida does not have a separate municipal body that performs daily civic functions, like dealing with garbage, street lighting, sewerage and public health, among other issues.
It is an anomaly in that the development authority, which is supposed to be responsible for the acquisition of land, planned development, and infrastructure creation, is also undertaking civic functions here.
For instance, in Delhi, these services are provided by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and in Mumbai by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), whereas Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), respectively, are responsible for planned development in these cities.
The Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992, recognised three different types of urban local bodies or municipalities: Nagar Palikas for areas transitioning from rural to urban; municipal councils for smaller urban areas; and municipal corporations for larger urban areas.
A metropolitan area was defined in the Act as an area having a population of above 10 lakh. Noida had breached the 10 lakh-population mark way back in 2010.
Municipalities are supposed to be elected directly by the people and are the third tier of government in urban areas after the Union and state governments.
They are the equivalent of Panchayats, but in urban areas. They are supposed to look after public health, waste management, sanitation, provide urban facilities like parks and playgrounds, as well as amenities like street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences, among other functions.
Proponents argue that having a self-governing local body leads to more effective, responsive, citizen-friendly, transparent, and accountable governance, in contrast to having an appointed bureaucrat in charge of local governance.
Not having a municipality has a huge negative impact on the area, according to Srikant Vishwanathan, CEO of Janaagraha, an organisation that works on urban governance.
“An elected municipality is the bridge between people’s aspirations and the government’s priorities and policies, especially for the urban poor,” Vishwanathan says.
In 2017, then District Magistrate BN Singh of Gautam Buddha Nagar (under which Noida falls) had recommended withdrawing municipal functions from the Authority and the formation of a separate municipal corporation.
However, the NOIDA and the Greater NOIDA bodies, later that year, concluded that they did not need municipal bodies.
